


night time hikes and weekends

by SpazzaturaXIII



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Biphobia, Canon Era, Explicit Language, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Unrequited Crush, i wrote this in a sad frenzy, if thats even valid, no one writes bill x richie and i think its a cute concept so mmmhnhnm, this is short and weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 16:50:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19749802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpazzaturaXIII/pseuds/SpazzaturaXIII
Summary: sorry bisexuality wasnt invented until 2008 so if you were bisexual in the 80s too badps. richie is bisexual in the 80s





	night time hikes and weekends

Richie was convinced that he would like Beverly for the rest of his life. She was pretty, her hair was short and refreshing from the other girls he knew, and she was funny. She said bad words and so did Richie, so he liked her. Well, he didn’t like her like that. He liked her the way he liked Stan. He appreciated that they were attractive and thought they were great friends, and he liked them. He didn’t like Beverly like how he liked Bill. 

Eddie was the only one that really understood what he talked about. He liked Beverly and he thought she was pretty, but Bill made him happier. But he also made him nervous, and that wasn’t a new feeling to Richie, it just was an unpleasant one. He still didn’t know why he felt so different around Bill. But that didn’t draw away from the glaring problem that had been haunting Richie whenever he hung out with all of his friends. 

Richie liked Beverly until Beverly liked Bill. 

That was dumb. It was so fucking stupid. Richie didn’t want to stop being friends with Beverly because she liked Bill. But he couldn’t shake the burning jealousy and hatred- yes, hatred- whenever they smiled at each other, or every time Beverly’s hand brushed Bill’s, and every time Bill’s eyes remained on the back of her head for too long. But Richie found some closure in the fact that Bill didn’t like Beverly. He couldn’t have- he would’ve told Richie. Right? Bill told Richie everything. 

Richie could ask him. 

Bill’s room was exceptionally hot in the summertime because it got hit directly with the sun. So whenever they hung out at Bill’s house, they just laid on the floor. Everyone else had left except for Richie and Eddie and Bill. Of course Bill was still there. It was his house. 

They all sat there for a while after the rest of them left, Eddie had fallen against Bill’s pillow and it was silent. It would have been nice, had it not been for the 4,000 degree weather. Richie had almost fallen asleep, and he thought Bill had too, but after ten minutes (Richie guessed), Eddie sighed and stood up. 

“I’ve gotta get home. My mom’s gonna be upset if I’m out past seven on a school night.” He gently nudged Richie on the way out. “I’ll see you first period with the homework.” Richie and Bill both mumbled a goodbye.

And so it was just him and Bill. 

Richie gave it a while. He listened to Eddie’s footsteps on the way down the stairs and his bike as he rode away down the street and as Richie glanced at the clock, he was painfully reminded that he would have soon ride home on the same path. After what seemed like an agonizingly long time, Richie glanced at the clock again. Not even fifteen minutes had gone by. It felt like it had been an hour since they had all been talking. Not even half an hour ago, rationally, Richie had been sitting outside with all of his friends, talking about nonsense. 

Now, he was sitting inside, on the floor, with Bill. Talking about nothing.

Richie sat upright. Bill looked at him through half-lidded eyes and didn’t get up. Richie took a deep breath. He didn’t know why he was nervous. If Bill liked Beverly, that was that. He had a crush on her. It would turn into any other conversation two teenage boys would have. Richie couldn’t shake it, though. Whatever Bill’s answer was, it would ruin whatever special relationship Richie thought they had. He didn’t know why he wanted Bill to say that he didn’t like her so bad. Hell, if Richie thought any better, he would think that he had a crush on Bill. But that didn’t happen. Richie liked a girl in eighth grade and boys who liked girls weren’t gay. 

And Richie wasn’t gay. 

“Do you like Beverly?” Richie’s heart was shallowly fluttering in his chest. 

Bill sat up and looked at him. His hair was damp from his sweat but it still looked good to Richie. 

“Do I like Beverly?” He either spoke slowly because he was nervous, or he was really trying to keep from stuttering. His speech therapist was working. 

“Yeah, do you like Beverly?” Richie repeated. Bill looked nervous. 

“W-Why?” 

Richie cracked his knuckles. He did that when he got nervous.

“I just…” He twisted his mouth. “I dunno, you seem like you do.” Bill frowned. 

“I d-don’t.” Bill sounded unconvinced. “I don’t like h-her. Like that, I mean.” He sounded unsure of himself. He was starting to talk faster, which was a surefire way of telling when Bill was nervous. 

“You don’t sound so sure, Bill-”

“Why d-d-do you want to know?” Bill didn’t sound angry. At all, really. He sounded genuinely curious. 

“I just want to know who my best friend likes, y’know how it goes, Big Bill.” Richie attempted to make a joke, but Bill’s frown didn’t leave his face and Richie realized he didn’t make a joke at all. His cheeks were red, which could have been from the heat or from the topic. 

“I thought Eddie was your best friend.” 

“Eddie,” Richie ran a hand through his hair. “Eddie means a lot to me. He really does. But we’ve been friends for a long time. Well, you’ve known Eddie longer, but we’ve been closer friends longer. I said that weird, but-”

“Yeah, I like Beverly.” Bill let out a loud sigh. 

Richie took in a breath. 

He expected to feel like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders when Bill gave him an answer, but instead, he just felt  _ worse _ . 

“Why?” Richie didn’t mean to say that. It just slipped past his lips. 

“Why?” Now Bill sounded upset. “What do you mean ‘why’?” 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck- “I just was curious.” 

“I like her hair a lot.” Richie’s hair was better, or at least he thought it was- or at least he thought Bill would think that. “She’s g-g-got really pretty eyes, too.” Fair point, her eyes were cute, but Bill said Stan’s eyes were pretty. Bill probably got off during eye appointments. “I like her freckles. I like freckles in general.” This kid must have been as blind as Richie, because last time Richie checked, Richie had freckles too. “I just-”

“What about her personality?” Richie was just being an asshole now. 

“Richie, wh-what the h-hell?” Bill’s face fell. “What’s y-your deal?” 

“I’m just asking what you see in her! I don’t like her and I want to know why you do.” Richie was digging himself in a hole, and he knew it, but there was this ache in his entire body that just kept on going. He wasn’t mad at Bill. He was mad at Beverly. “Like, she’s our friend, you can’t like her, she’s in our friend group-”

“Why d-d-do you care?!” Bill still wasn’t yelling. “Honestly if I didn’t know you any better I would think y-you liked me!” 

And that’s what killed him. Richie bit the inside of his mouth and looked down at his hands. They were shaking. He didn’t like Bill, but hearing the words in Bill’s mouth made him want to be sick. He wasn’t gay. He couldn’t be, you were normal, or gay and that was it. Richie laughed to himself. 

“What’s f-funny.” 

“What you said, it- it was funny.” Richie wiped at his eyes. He laughed when he got nervous. Richie laughed all the time. Partly because he was fucking hilarious and partly because he was uncomfortable all the fucking time. 

“Th-Th-That’s not what I was sa-s-saying.” Bill’s face paled as he realized what he said. “I’m not calling y-you g-ga-g-” He took a deep breath. He spoke very slowly. “I’m not calling you  _ gay _ .” He whispered the last word. He would yell ‘fuck you’ down the hallway, but God forbid he say gay like that. He said it like it was a bad word. Richie wasn’t gay, but it made him feel dirty. 

“I, uh…” Richie stood up. “I have to go.” 

Bill stood up after him. He grabbed his wrist. 

“Richie, I didn’t-”

“I have to go, Bill.” Richie spoke with diction. Even as he felt tears form in his eyes for some God-fucking-awful reason, he didn’t break eye contact with Bill. “My mom’s gonna be mad if I’m late.” 

He yanked his arm from Bill’s grasp and turned on his heel. He heard Bill walk after him, so he started down the stairs faster. 

He didn’t actually start crying until he walked out the front door. God, it was this bizarre hatred in the pit of his stomach that he couldn’t place where it was directed or why it felt so weird- but it hurt. It hurt like  _ hell  _ and Richie was mad at Beverly for ever meeting them and how she was so nice all the time and he hated Bill for saying yes and he hated himself for being so upset about it because who gives a fuck if Bill likes Beverly, she’s just Richie’s friend! She didn’t do anything wrong! 

Richie wasn’t mad at her!

He was mad at Bill. 

He didn’t know why, but he was mad at Bill. He was mad at Bill for making that shitty comment and he was mad at Bill because he was confusing Richie. Bill was Richie’s best friend, Richie was supposed to support him, not spaz out and act like a bitch. 

But Richie wasn’t the best person and he was scared and he hated admitting that he was wrong. 

So Bill was going to take the blame for this. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!  
> i feel like bill and richies relationship has so much potential but i dont ever see much content with them. i also feel like bisexuality is a really overlooked concept on ao3, and most other social media platforms, not for what it is, but for how difficult it is to actually understand and be confident in. i feel like this was a situation that is all to common and one that is hardly ever represented well so i hope you enjoy this!
> 
> the title is from death cup by mom jeans which is an _incredible_ song and fits really well with the dynamic i got going here.


End file.
